1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera having a built-in strobe light generating unit for performing flash photography and a red-eye reduction lamp to reduce red-eye phenomenon, and, more particularly, the present invention relates to a camera having a strobe light generating unit and red-eye reduction lamp arranged with respect to each other in the camera body to provide a compact camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cameras having a built-in strobe are known. In the known cameras having a built-in strobe, a strobe light generating unit for flash photography is typically positioned in the front side of the camera body, separated as far as possible from the lens barrel of the photographic lens. For example, when viewing the camera body from the front, the strobe light generating unit is generally positioned in an upper right-hand side portion of the front side of the camera body, opposite a release button arranged in a left-hand side portion of the camera body. When performing color photography with the above-described built-in strobe type camera, and taking close-up photographs of people from the front, the light from the strobe light generating unit may cause the pupil of the human eye to acquire a red rendering (hereinafter referred to as "red-eye phenomenon"). The red-eye phenomenon is marked in cases in which the optical axis of the photographic lens and the strobe light generating unit are close together. To prevent the red-eye phenomenon, it is necessary for the spacing between the photographic lens and the strobe light generating unit to be as large as possible.
However, in a small camera, such as a compact camera, it is difficult to provide spacing between the optical axis of the photographic lens and the strobe light generating unit, and, therefore, it is difficult to prevent the occurrence of the red-eye phenomenon. Because of the difficulty arranging spacing between the optical axis of the photographic lens and the strobe light generating unit, to prevent or reduce the red-eye phenomenon in the built-in strobe type camera, a separate red-eye reduction lamp is arranged peripherally of the lens barrel at the front side of the camera body. The red-eye reduction lamp is coupled to the strobe light generating unit so that the red-eye reduction lamp generates light at the time of flash photography to prevent or reduce the red-eye phenomenon during flash photography.
However, in the above-described built-in strobe type camera, it is difficult to find a place in the camera body to attach a light generating member which functions as the red-eye reduction lamp. For example, placing the red-eye reduction lamp close to the strobe light generating unit has been considered. By placing the red-eye reduction lamp close to the strobe light generating unit, to form a unit with the strobe light generating unit, ease of assembly is increased, and by using previously unused space ("dead space"), compactness of the camera body is possible. In positioning the light generating member which functions as a red-eye reduction lamp close to the strobe light generating unit, it is also necessary to consider the relationship between the light generating member and other constituent members built into the camera body. For example, it is necessary to consider the relationship between the light generating member and a strobe light generation circuit which performs control of strobe light generation, a strobe capacitor which performs charging for strobe light generation, and a battery which supplies electric power to electric system components in the camera, including the strobe capacitor.
Positioning the red-eye reduction lamp in a portion of a strobe reflector, located at the lower side of the strobe light generating unit, has been considered to provide efficient use of space and ease of assembly. Further, positioning of the strobe capacitor at the lower side of the strobe light generating unit has been considered from the aspect of camera body height.
When the above-noted points are taken into account, the red-eye reduction lamp may be positioned adjacent to the strobe capacitor at the lower side of the strobe reflector of the strobe light generating unit. However, when the red-eye reduction lamp is positioned adjacent to the strobe capacitor at the lower side of the strobe reflector, the height of the strobe light generating unit, the height of the red-eye reduction lamp unit, the height of the strobe capacitor and the length of terminals for external connection which project from an end portion of the strobe capacitor all contribute to the total overall height of the camera.
In particular, since the above-described structure simply stacks up the camera components and the mutual spacing between components is not compressed, it is difficult to make the camera compact. Accordingly, what is needed is a camera having an arrangement of components of the strobe light generating unit and red-eye reduction lamp to provide a more compact structure.